Novelis invests in evercan launch site
Novelis has completed a £1.7m (US$2.5m) upgrade at an aluminium can recycling plant which will serve as a launch production site for the evercan aluminium beverage can body sheet.
The new machinery doubles the Warrington, Cheshire plant’s capacity to process UK-sourced contaminated aluminum beverage cans. The overall plant has the capacity to recycle around 130,000 tonnes of aluminum.
Evercan is the industry’s first independently certified, high-recycled content aluminium designed for the beverage can market with a minimum of 90% recycled aluminium.
When combined with the can end made of a different alloy during the can making process, the evercan will enable beverage companies to market their products in standard 12-ounce aluminium cans certified as made from a minimum of 70% recycled content.
It is commercially available now in North America and Europe, and will be available worldwide later this year.
Other launch sites include the recycling centers in Berea, Kentucky and Greensboro, Georgia.
The upgrade at the firm’s only UK production site includes rotoshredder equipment which will work with an existing optical sorting system.
Plant efficiency boost
Novelis said it will improve plant efficiency by removing contamination such as paper and plastic, but is not designed to handle fully mixed recyclables.
The rotoshredder equipment, which is designed to increase the plant’s capacity to separate plastic contamination from UK-sourced used beverage cans (UBCs), has improved processing volumes by more than 250%, claimed the firm.
The rotorshredder works with the optical sorting system to clean contaminated UBCs, leading to efficiencies for other processes and improvements in production levels.
However, UBCs can be difficult to process when they are not separated from other materials that are placed into mixed recycling bins.
Cleaning and sanitation
The equipment will enhance the cleaning and separation capabilities at the plant, allowing Novelis Recycling to make a commitment to its UK supplier network and to develop new sources of supply to meet the demands of the closed loop recycling system operating within the Warrington plant.
“This investment brings an increased ability to process material from local sources and will make a big impact on our UK operations,” said Brian McCallie, Plant Manager at the Warrington site.
“It’s also an important step toward reaching Novelis’ goal of increasing the recycled content of our products across our global operations to 80 percent by 2020.”
Approximately eight billion aluminium drink cans were filled and sold in the UK in 2011 with a strong recycling rate of 60%, according to Alupro.
